Shipyard drops court appeal

19 October 2011

The Russian Legal Information Agency has reported that the Baltiysky Zavod shipyard has dropped its appeal against a court decision to impound the world's first floating nuclear power plant, which it is helping to build. However, proceedings continue in order to determine whether ownership of the nearly complete vessel lies with the shipyard or Rosenergoatom. In June this year, Baltiysky Zavod started facing bankruptcy proceedings, and Rosenergoatom became worried that its investment might be lost if the ship – dubbed Akademik Lomonosov – was seized by a third party to cover debts. The company convinced the Court of Arbitration of Saint Petersburg to take temporary possession of the ship in mid-August. Turbogenerators have already been installed, and the shipyard has received the two 35 MW KLT-40S nuclear reactors, which are intended to eventually provide heat and electricity to the town of Vilyuchinsk, on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's far east. Currently registered to Baltiysky Zavod, Rosenergoatom claims to have paid for the vessel's construction and is seeking to have it re-registered in its own name. However Roman Trotsenko, president of United Industrial Corporation, which owns almost 90% of the shipyard, has reportedly contended that only the first tranche of 1.5 billion rubles ($48.4 million) has been made and that up to 5 billion rubles ($160 million) is needed for completion. In August, a spokesman for Rosatom claimed that the plant remains on track to be commissioned in 2012.